Minor? Floor repair

[stevenw00]

We are looking at a '93 Sprint fish/ski and it has some serious weak spots around the ski storage in the floor (don't know what this area is called.) I am sure we'll have to pull the seats up, part of the carpet and floor, but I am wondering how much we'll have to pull up, and how much work is involved (assuming that this is the only problem and that it isn't wider spread than I believe.)

Any info, tips, web sites, etc. would be greatly appreciated. This is my first boat, so I am very new at this.


Thanks!

 

[Coors]

Re: Minor? Floor repair

There is probably more rot under the floor.
About 120 hours, and $750 of material.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Minor? Floor repair

The typical situation is somebody finds soft spot in the floor and thinks, no big problem, I'll just fix this small area. They find the floor in far worse condition that they expected, then see the srtingers are rotten, followed by the transom. This will most likely turn into a big project, not a simple fix, so if you plan on getting the boat the price should reflect the condition it's in and cost of repairs.

 

[JB]

Re: Minor? Floor repair

Yup. What they said.

I bought two "bass" boats in my optimistic youth with "minor" softness in the sole (or deck. NEVER floor). Bought them both for what the outboards were worth. Kept the engines and scrapped both. I figured it would cost me more to fix them than they would be worth after fixing. That is when I gave up on used boats with too much wood in the wrong places.

Unless you want to spend many, many hours and lots of bux for the pleasure of creating, pass it up. If you want a servicable boat get one that doesn't have the dreaded cancer.

 

[Coors]

Re: Minor? Floor repair

Wood and foam should not be installed in a boat....
Period. GRRRRR.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Minor? Floor repair

Agree with the above, been there done that!
This rebuild started with a soft spot here, there, turned into stringer/deck replacement. Came out good but never again, next boat I buy will be no more than 5 years old and no carpeted decks ever!

 

[salty87]

Re: Minor? Floor repair

run the other way if you still can. it is do-able but not minor or for the faint of heart.

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Minor? Floor repair

run the other way if you still can. it is do-able but not minor or for the faint of heart.

having just spent the last 4 days unexpectedly burried in fiberglass.... unless you truly enjoy that kind of work... there are a LOT of used boats on the market these days...

 

[tmh]

Re: Minor? Floor repair

Just FYI, if you're reading this and thinking "yeah, but it's a good deal on the boat and mine won't be as wide spread as these guys had" think again! THAT's what we all thought! Then we paid the price. It's the whole floor and much of the stringer system AT BEST. Could be transom as well. Seat supports also maybe.

Only a few who ever did this job once have at it ever again! It can be done - and in doing it you learn you never want to do it again.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Minor? Floor repair

Oh, I dunno.

I'm actually thinking about picking a 20-ish foot wrecked boat to restore in my garage next winter.

I figure if I can pick a popular brand or model, and outfit it for the local walleye or bass fishermen I could even make a little money or at least break even on the deal... not everyone can afford a new boat in the current economy.

And if I'm not under a gun to get my boat on the water for summer, it might be fun.